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Outside my office window is a tree that I stop at least once a day to notice.  I have watched it roll through the seasons for a couple of years now.  Today, it looks like a funky lollipop, with reddish-amber leaves fringing an inner ring of golden-yellow, and a heart of the remaining pale-green leaves.  The sun rides pretty low in the sky this time of year, and there is a period during the day when it illuminates the tree from inside, causing it to glow with rich colors.  The wind today, although not strong, is constant, and the tree is slowly losing the battle.  Every day I can see more of the limbs and trunk, and less of the color.  In a handful of weeks it will be completely bare.  That thought makes me want to pull on a sweater, warm up a mug of hot chocolate, and settle in for the winter. 

IMAGE: Taryn with the puppies, who will officially be dogs on Thanksgiving, their first birthday.

I recently returned from the annual trip to NYC for the marathon.  While some folks can’t make it every year, it is a pretty regular group.  Kim, David, Dan, and I were this year’s attendees.  With all “significant others” being absent, the roster mirrored our first trip up a few years ago.  I, as usual, documented the weekend with a couple of hundred photographs.  The requests to see the final photoset began on the flight home.  That was last week, and last night was a ‘Musketeers’ night out with Kim, David, and me.  I picked my favorite 200+ images (under 30% of the images I made) and brought them along in a slideshow.  This image was made on the last day, with me laying on my back on the floor of the Guggenheim.  It is a pretty decent shot, and was worth the strange looks thrown my way.  I doubt if I will post the whole set to flickr, but I’ll probably put up a web gallery of images in the next few days, and provide a link here.

I was going to write a longish post on appreciating your life and the good things in it.  But I’ve decided to simply say that I cannot tell the people in my life how much they mean to me.  I am surrounded and supported by the greatest group of friends a man could ask for.  Folks I’ve known since childhood, and folks I met only a few short months ago.  You guys are the best people on earth, and you have made my life more interesting, richer, and better than I could have asked for.  My family, Mom, Dad, Ricky, & Robin.  We pick at each other, get in arguments, make jokes, and get along like most families do.  But you guys are *my* family, and you each have helped make me the person I am, and I love you for it.  And last, but most importantly, my wife Taryn.  There is no way to say how much you mean to me and how much I love you.  You have taken a man who was simply content in his life and transformed him into man who is happy, thankful, and optimistic about his life and our future.  What I’m trying to say is “Thank You”.  To all of you.

Our runners are preparing for today’s race as I write this.  Five o’clock seems way way too early to be getting up.  With dawn still an hour away, and a bloody cold wind outside, I’m not envying them the trip out to Staten Island.  The plan, since there are concerns about the ability of buses to all get to the starting line on time, is for the guys to take the Staten Island Ferry and then a shuttle out to the race.  We’ll be following our usual plan as support folks, and catch them at the 12 mile marker, and again as they enter the park at the 24 mile marker.  I’m considering shooting a few pics over the reservoir at dawn, but then again I may find a coffee shop and hole up there for a few hours.

We’re in the city for the weekend, and on day two we’ve spent the morning having Starbucks with Hot & Crusty bagels, and doing home repairs around the apartment for Mr. Potter.  New light bulbs, un-squeeked hinges, and new door knobs and clothing hooks are the order of the day.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the rest of today, but I think some wandering, shooting, and shopping might be included.  A trip to Bryant Park to see the skating and photo exhibit are also possibilities.  There’s also lots of coffee shops and Central Park to try.  Choices, choices, choices.  I have not been shooting much, just a few shots of Mr. P and the city in general as we walk around.  We’ll see what I can find this afternoon.
IMAGE:  This is another image from the light tests while we set up for Halloween.  It’s turning out to be quite a favorite over on Flickr.